No it wasn't the one about Cheny's shooting a man, even though there were gazillions of entries on this subject at the Daily Kos alone. Depending on what the true date of the shooting was, this is the 11th or 12th day of
Cheney-Shooting-His-Friend-In-The-Face-Dkos-Watch in which
multiple DKos Diaries on the same subject have been posted.
DAILY!
No, it wasn't the "Offensive" Mohammed cartoon either, even considering the people killed, the property damaged and the worldwide media propaganda wars that may end up escalating.
Wrong again, it wasn't the NSA spy program or the many programs being conducted related, or parallel to it.
Right! It was in the Cheney's Interview with Hume at the f-word network, well... kind of.... If you know what I mean, but in the event that you do not, here are more hints: It was not about how his statements do not add up, or that his story doesn't reconcile with the known facts, or the contradictory statements and the implausible explanations, or the attempts to shift blame, nor was about the late notification to relevant parties, not even his recreantly contrite demeanor, nope, it wasn't because of the stomach-revolting content or context either.
No, it was something else.
Give up?
It was a "Same-Sex" (SS(?)) Political marriage! Bush and Cheney as Co-Regents of the "Unites States of the American Kingdom" The only question remaining is: Who is the top? (Politically speaking, jeez! Get your minds out of the gutter. OK, I leaded you there, sorry.)
Hume: On another subject, court filings have indicated that Scooter Libby has suggested that his superiors -- unidentified -- authorized the release of some classified information. What do you know about that?
Cheney: It's nothing I can talk about, Brit. This is an issue that's been under investigation for a couple of years. I've cooperated fully, including being interviewed, as well, by a special prosecutor. All of it is now going to trial. Scooter is entitled to the presumption of innocence. He's a great guy. I've worked with him for a long time, have enormous regard for him. I may well be called as a witness at some point in the case and it's, therefore, inappropriate for me to comment on any facet of the case.
Hume: Let me ask you another question. Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?
Cheney: There is an executive order to that effect.
Hume: There is.
Cheney: Yes.
Hume: Have you done it?
Cheney: Well, I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions. The executive order --
Hume: You ever done it unilaterally?
Cheney: I don't want to get into that. There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the President, but also includes the Vice President.
Cheney spilled the beans and was about to expand his answer on the EO in his next to last answer in the above excerpt, when Hume stopped him from continuing by asking a new question -
We're looking at what will be the official answer to any constitutionality question.
We're witnessing the VP confirming another trifecta of Bushco, Signing Statements, Unitarian Presidency and Executive Orders.
[Points 2 ponder: 1. "If the VP can classify, does this means he can do the opposite"? And if this is the case, "Doesn't it stand to reason to say that as if, the Libby claim that the VP gave him authorization to leak Plame's background, is correct, can I say that Libby didn't brake any law other than lying under oath? ]
This is the executive order he was referring to, it is an amendment expanding Clinton's 1995 EO12958. (Text in bold and/or underscored, are this Diarist's edits)
EXECUTIVE ORDER 13292
Section 1.3 Classification Authority. (a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:
(1) the President and, in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President;
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register; and
(3) United States Government officials delegated this authority pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section.
(b) Officials authorized to classify information at a specified level are also authorized to classify information at a lower level.
(c) Delegation of original classification authority.
(1) Delegations of original classification authority shall be limited to the minimum required to administer this order. Agency heads are responsible for ensuring that designated subordinate officials have a demonstrable and continuing need to exercise this authority.
(2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(3) "Secret" or "Confidential" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section; or the senior agency official described in section 5.4(d) of this order, provided that official has been delegated "Top Secret" original classification authority by the agency head.
I started doing research trying to find out who was talking about it's significance, implications, impact, ramifications, etc., of that "Little", and largely ignored, terrifying Cheney comment.
Not at the Kos, except for a few of entries that soon disappeared in the DKos' virtual round file. I lost sight of a small diary dealing with current constitutional perils to this Republic, written by TexMex, before I could at least place it in my hotlist; last time I saw it, it had one palsy comment.
Here's an entry Executive Orders...Are they Constitutional? It was posted Fri Feb 17, 2006 at 07:54:10 PM PDT.
Or this entry, On the Executive Branch; Relating to War Powers It was posted Mon Feb 20, 2006 at 11:48:24 AM PDT
This is another story of the few that were posted on this issue.CORRECTION: Now on, today's Vice-President's Day Posted Mon Feb 20, 2006 at 06:49:13 PM PDT
A few Diaries pop out here and there on focusing on Constitutional matters under Bushco The Classified Constitution
I did searches to see if I could find items on this All-Important and dangerous Constitutional Crises. I came up with this off-the-beaten-path "National Review Online" That clearly hits the nail right on the head.
February 16, 2006, 8:41 a.m.
The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power
Have you ever heard of Executive Order 13292?
In addition to discussing his hunting accident, Vice President Dick Cheney, in his interview on the Fox News Channel Wednesday, also pointed to a little-known but enormously consequential expansion of vice-presidential power that has come about as a result of the Bush administration's war on terror.
NRO's article continues:
Throughout Executive Order 13292, there are changes to the original Clinton order which, in effect, give the vice president the power of the president in dealing with classified material. In the original Clinton executive order, for example, there appeared the following passage:
Classification Authority.
(a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:
(1) the President;
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register...
In the Bush order, that section was changed to this (emphasis added):
Classification Authority.
(a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:
(1) the President and, in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President;
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register...
In another part of the original Clinton order, there was a segment dealing with who was authorized to delegate the authority to classify material. In the Clinton order, the passage read:
(2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President or by an agency head or official designated...
(3) "Secret" or "Confidential" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; an agency head or official designated...
In the Bush order, that segment was changed to read (emphasis added):
(2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated...
(3) "Secret" or "Confidential" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated...
Both executive orders contained extension sections defining the terms used in the order. One of those terms was "original classification authority," that is, who in the government has the power to classify documents. In the Clinton order, the definition read:
"Original classification authority" means an individual authorized in writing, either by the President, or by agency heads or other officials designated by the President...
In the Bush executive order, the definition was changed to read (emphasis added):
"Original classification authority" means an individual authorized in writing, either by the President, the Vice President in the performance of executive duties, or by agency heads or other officials designated by the President...
In the last several years, there has been much talk about the powerful role Dick Cheney plays in the Bush White House. Some of that talk has been based on anecdotal evidence, and some on entirely fanciful speculation. But Executive Order 13292 is real evidence of real power in the vice president's office. Since the beginning of the administration, Dick Cheney has favored measures allowing the executive branch to keep more things secret. And in March of 2003, the president gave him the authority to do it.
As in Chess, Checkmate will be called, the move lies at Bushco's pleasure. If/When the move is made, the "Fat(sic) Lady" Will start singing "Springtime for Bushco" at the end of the "American Democracy Experiment" Play.
Farfetched? Only time will tell if BushInc moves to a de facto totalitarianism, but I got the inclination to take bets on my opinion that sooner or later they will, . Any takers?